News

The latest news to hit the headlines this week for landlords…

Intus Lettings has compiled a list of the latest industry news to hit the headlines this week that effect landlords.

Demand high, supply low north of the Midlands

New data released by Hometrack has revealed that demand is still outstripping supply north of the Midlands in England and across the border in Scotland whilst inner-London continues to struggle.

The astronomical cost of entering the housing market in the inner-London boroughs has meant that more people than ever are relocating or investing in the more northern regions of the country.

House price growth in inner-London has reduced to crawling pace, with overall growth sitting at roughly 1%, with prices falling in 42% of the postcodes in the immediate city area. In contrast, five cities have registered growth above 7% this year, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham and Manchester.

Half of the 20 cities included in the study are experiencing higher year-on-year growth than 12 months ago, with the aforementioned five cities all above 7%. The other ten are experiencing slower growth than a year ago and all of them are south of the Midlands border, namely the likes of Bristol and Southampton.

Despite Brexit anxiety many of the UK’s leading cities boast buoyant growth, mainly in the north. There is an argument to be had that the Northern Powerhouse scheme is also playing a large part in this growth with investment into infrastructure and the positive press coverage it generates contributing to higher confidence in the area.

Small investments can reap huge rewards

New research conducted by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and the HomeOwners Alliance (HOA) has found that home owners and landlords can add a gigantic £48,417 to the value of a property simply by removing a separating wall to create an open plan kitchen diner.

Further to that, the research says that simple moves such as these can boost the value of the property in as little as seven days.

The research was conducted to look at the most effective and simple ways of converting space in a property to add the maximum amount of value.

For example, building a garden room or outside children’s playroom can add almost £25,000 to the value of a property in Surrey and can take as little as 14 days to complete. The research also said that converting a cupboard underneath a staircase into a downstairs toilet could also add as much as £27,000 to the value of a property.

Other key improvements included replacing kitchen flooring, worktops and cupboards for added value of £26,000, or adding an en-suite bathroom to a master bedroom, adding £15,000 in value.

The purpose of the research was to illustrate to home owners and landlords alike that small changes can lead to significant increases in the value of a property.

Landlords abandoning Scotland?

Concerning new data from the quarterly property monitor report from Aberdein Considine has revealed that two thirds of landlords have been put off investing in property in Scotland due to the extra 3% Land and Buildings Transaction Tax introduced in Scotland in 2016.

The result, says the report, is that new landlords are being deterred from entering the market and existing landlords are either avoiding expanding their portfolios or selling off in order to reduce them. Some, it is said, are selling up altogether to avoid the unnecessary hassle.

Quoted in PropertyWire, Jacqueline Law, managing partner at Aberdein Considine said: ‘There has been a significant change in the Scottish property market in the last six months and it is gathering pace. By targeting landlords, politicians north and south of the border are squeezing one of the biggest and most powerful buying forces out of the Scottish property market, which is already affecting sales in certain areas,’.

The significant effects of the policy is already being felt north of the border and the should be heeded as a warning by politicians in Westminster who are considering any further measures against landlords for easy revenue for the exchequer.